March 22, 2014 - Memphis'Markel Crawford (middle) takes part in a juggling contest with teammates during media day before their upcoming their round of 32 of the NCAA tournament game against Virginia in Raleigh, N.C. (Mark Weber/The Commercial Appeal)

RALEIGH, N.C. - So here's a few things we learned from the University of Memphis' player and coach interviews Saturday at PNC Arena in advance of their third-round NCAA tournament game Sunday against top-seeded Virginia.

**The Tigers are loose, and I think that's a good thing. We saw an entirely different locker room Saturday than the one we saw two days ago before the No. 8-seeded Tigers beat No. 9 seed George Washington 71-66 in the second round. Clearly, the pressure is off the Tigers - or at least their demeanor Saturday said so - and I'll write more about that in Sunday's print edition.

Want to experience what the vibe was like in the Memphis locker room Saturday? Just check out our video of Tigers redshirt freshman Markel Crawford, who teammate Chris Crawford informed me Saturday is the "National Redshirt of the Year," do the "Nae Nae" dance, a truly inspiring(?) act of greatness. As Chris pointed out, no redshirt in the country put up these kinds of numbers this season: "He averages 34 high-fives, 16 scoot-downs (the bench), 14 'good jobs' and 13 claps," Chris told us of Markel.

**Geron Johnson isn't backing off the two-win guarantee he made after the Tigers' loss to Connecticut in the quarterfinals of the American Athletic Conference tournament. In fact, he reiterated it.

"You'll see me in New York next week," Johnson said.

**As for the business of beating Virginia, which has won 17 of its last 18 games, the Tigers said they're embracing the role of underdogs.

"We can win two games. A lot of people might doubt us, but it's us that we have to believe in," freshman forward Austin Nichols said.

"At the end of the day, everything we do is for Memphis basketball. It's not for outsiders. It's not for the haters or anything like that. We can always use (the doubters) as motivation. It's huge. But you also can't think about that all the time. You gotta think about what you gotta do to win."